LONG BEACH, Calif. — Shane Koyczan, the Penticton spoken-word poet and author, left attendees at the TED conference near tears Thursday with his self-effacing look at the effects of bullying through the eyes of being both a victim and a bully.

In the week since his anti-bullying video, To This Day, was released on YouTube as part of Pink Shirt Day, it has been seen nearly 5.2 million times.

The power of that video, which explores the effect hateful and bullying words can have, last Thursday led the organizers of the Technology, Entertainment and Design conference to quickly change the agenda and draft Koyczan to speak to its 1,400 attendees.

Koyczan, who is used to large crowds — he delivered the slam poem We Are More at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games — was nonetheless nervous when he stepped onto the TED stage, looking out at a packed audience.

“Oh, so many of you,” he said.

Koyczan struck a nerve with the crowd of wealthy venture capitalists, scientists, philanthropists and all-around over-achievers when he told them how so many people like him start their lives conditioned to failure.

“They asked me what I wanted to be and then told me what not to be,” he said of his first teachers.

Koyczan first warmed the crowd up with humour, talking about how he sabotaged a bully by giving him fake answers to a test. But he then grew serious, telling the story of why he now hates pork chops — he was given that name by school bullies who twisted a favourite meaning he shared with his grandmother.

Koyczan’s potent message came at the end of a day of TED Talks built around new and different ways of looking at communication; indelicate conversations, which dealt with issues like sex and bodily functions; and secret voices, which dealt with repression and exploration of nature.

It was into this last and powerfully emotional session that Koyczan’s poetry was delivered. He followed talks by psychologist researcher Eleanor Longden about dealing with her schizophrenia, and activist Hyeonseo Lee’s description of reunification with her family after escaping repressive North Korea.

Koyczan said later he became emotional at the end when attendees leaped out of their chairs and gave him thunderous applause. This was the same set of people, he said, who might in their childhood also have been called “geek” and “fatty.” There may have been some who were bullies, too.

“Having seen TED from a distance, I always thought if ever there was a place for someone like me, the outcasts, people who maintained who they are despite being told what they were, it was TED,” he told The Vancouver Sun.

Neil Gershenfeld, the director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, stopped Koyczan in the hall after the performance and enthusiastically shook his hand.

“I wanted to thank you. That was just gorgeous,” he said. “I thought it was wonderful, moving and compelling.”

Koyczan said he’s been astonished by the reaction to the video, which was done for free in collaboration with a group of 80 artists and Giant Ant Studio.

“I am not necessarily surprised that so many people are passionate about the message,” he said. “But I am surprised at how quickly it has been picked up. I think this resonates with a lot of people.

“I think everybody gets bullied in their own way. Even athletes probably get it from their parents,” he said. “To a degree everybody gets bullied. Really, the object of the project was to put an arm around the shoulder of somebody who needs it.”

He said he could have used the power of the video in his own childhood.

“For me, growing up and going to school and not seeing any anti-bullying posters and not hearing people talk about bullying was very desolate. Hearing about it now is reassuring because people care about it. People are working on the problem and that is some measure of comfort.”

Koyczan began his performance by talking about himself.

“I hid my heart under my bed because my mother said if you’re not careful someday somebody’s going to break it. Take it from me, under the bed is not a good hiding spot.

“I know because I’ve been shot down so much I get altitude sickness just from standing up for myself,” he told the audience.

“We were expected to define ourselves at such an early age and if we didn’t do it, others did it for us. Geek, fatty, slut, fag.

“At the same time we were being asked what do you want to be when you grow up.

“I always thought that was an unfair question. It presupposes what we already are. We were kids.

“When I was eight, I wanted to be marine biologist. When I was nine I saw the movie Jaws and thought ‘no thank you.’

“When I was 10 I was told my parents left because they didn’t want me. When I was 11 I wanted to be left alone, when I was 12 I wanted to die, when I was 13 I wanted to kill a kid.”

As Koyczan began to get into his poem, Vancouver violinist Hannah Epperson began to pick up his theme and flashes of the video began to appear on the screens behind him.

He said later that he was drafted by TED so quickly that he had no time to bring a band to Long Beach and had to ask Epperson to fly in from New York in a rush.

“It was so rushed that I was in Vancouver when they asked me, and I had to fly back to Penticton to get my passport so that I could come to Los Angeles,” he said.

As he left the stage, TED executive producer June Cohen uncharacteristically gave him a hug. “My heart is in my throat,” she said.

Comments

We encourage all readers to share their views on our articles and blog posts. We are committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion, so we ask you to avoid personal attacks, and please keep your comments relevant and respectful. If you encounter a comment that is abusive, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report spam or abuse. We are using Facebook commenting. Visit our FAQ page for more information.

Video

Today's National News

Best of Postmedia

Be afraid. Be very afraid. Ignore the diversions in the United States: athletes kneeling or standing during the national anthem; Republicans flailing and failing again on health care; a kick-boxing creationist possibly becoming senator from Alabama. Calamity looms elsewhere. We are hurtling toward war with North Korea. It may be as early as next month. […]

It wasn’t in the middle of a farmer’s muddy field or deep in the boreal forest where the Canadian oilsands truly struck pay dirt. It was inside Fort McMurray’s recreation centre. More than 1,400 oilpatch workers, corporate executives, provincial leaders and the country’s prime minister assembled 21 years ago in northern Alberta to grasp a […]

Google’s powerful search engine is defeating some court-ordered publication bans in Canada and undermining efforts to protect young offenders and victims. Computer experts believe it’s an unintended, “mind-boggling” consequence of Google search algorithms. In six high-profile cases documented by the Citizen, searching the name of a young offender or victim online pointed to media coverage […]

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.